Tag Archives: Pray

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Are you facing impossible demands today? Jesus said that if we have faith in God, nothing will be impossible for us. Prayer backed by an unshakable confidence in the power of God can make what is humanely impossible, possible.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

If you are like most people, it may seem like there is never enough time to do all of the things we need to do. Just thinking about all of the things we don’t have time to do can give us a headache and make us sick. However, there are some things that, if we are to live successfully, we must make time to do. On the top of that to do list should be prayer.

It is in prayer that we communicate with God and can share all of our concerns and feelings with Him. I believe that God desires to not only know what we want but also what we feel. When the pains and burdens of life begin to weigh us down, we should open up the communication line to God through prayer. In prayer, God can reassure us, speak to us about our problems and provide us with direction. Prayer is our lifeline.

When I find myself overwhelmed by the burdens of life, I often stop to think about my prayer life. I ask myself if I am praying enough. I ask myself if I have sincerely sought direction from God. During the rough times, I find that I could usually stand to pray a little more.

James 5:16 tells us that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. The first thought that comes to my mind is “what does it mean to be righteous?” One definition of righteous offered by dictionary.com is “acting in an upright, moral way; virtuous: a righteous and godly person.” In other words, a righteous person is someone who lives right according to God’s commandments. Deuteronomy 5:29 tells us that the way for us and our children to live a good life forever is to keep all of God’s commands. This is what a righteous person strives to do. From this, we can understand that step one to praying powerful and effective prayers is to live righteously.

Step two for praying powerful and effective prayers is to be persistent in our prayers. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says that we have to pray without ceasing. We cannot give up on our prayers. Even when we may have been praying for a long time for something to manifest in our lives, we must continue to pray until we receive an answer from God. We must be tenacious in our prayers until God speaks to us about our situation. There is a saying that I really like that says we should P.U.S.H. That is we should pray until something happens. We should never give up on our prayers because there is tremendous power in prayer.

Scripture also tells us that our prayers should be fervent. This means that we should be intense in our prayers and should pray with passion. I believe that God wants to hear our honest, sincere and heartfelt prayers. It is through praying in this manner that we pursue a real relationship with God. It is awesome to understand that God wants to know us intimately.

Although there is tremendous power in prayer, we should understand that the power in our prayers is not due to our holiness or goodness but is due to the power and grace of God. It is by God’s grace that our prayers become effective. Isn’t it good to know that it is not by our strength but by His strength that prayer changes the circumstances in our lives? If you strive to live righteously, pray persistently and with sincerity and passion, God can do some wonderful things in response to our prayers.

We all experience sadness, despair, and downtimes in our lives from time to time. If we are lucky, these downtimes pass quickly and are replaced with joy again. However, sometimes it seems like these negative feelings may be with us forever. We may feel a little depressed or maybe a sense of hopelessness. This feeling of despair can be compared to what it would feel like to never see light but to always have darkness in our environment. The longer we feel down, the more it seems like this feeling will not pass. However, the Word of God tells us that He will deliver us from darkness. Psalm 18:28 says that God will keep our lamp burning. In other words, God will light up our spirit and replace the darkness with light. He will not only provide us with comfort in our period of darkness but will replace the feeling of despair with that of hope and peace.

What causes us to feel such melancholy? I believe that feelings of sadness, despair and depression are caused by anxiety and worry. Proverbs 12:25 tells us that worry weighs us down. Anxiety and worry are strong emotions. They are a derivative of fear. Fear is the ultimate dark emotion. But take heart that God does not give us the spirit of fear but the spirit of faith.

There are many triggers in our daily lives that can make us worry or experience anxiety. Some of these triggers may include job stress or dissatisfaction, financial lack, unhealthy relationships, or health issues in our bodies. Sometimes our worry about these things is all consuming. We simply cannot get rid of the negative thoughts and therefore feel like we are in a state of continual melancholy. During these times, we have to take control of our minds and fight back. We must counter these negative thoughts and replace them with the Word of God. We should meditate on the promises of God with the confidence that what God says will come to pass.

I believe that there is power in the Word of God. In and of itself, power exists in the Word of God. Just by reading, speaking and reflecting on the Word of God, we activate the power that can turn our darkness into light. Also, by focusing our attention on the Word of God, we can keep our mind clear of the negative effects of worry and anxiety. We cannot have two thoughts at once. Either we will think positive or we will think negative. It is our choice. Another interesting thing happens when we focus on the Word of God, especially in the midst of a problem. When we no longer focus on the problem but focus on the Word of God, we will stop looking at all of our daily distractions and when we look up again, we may find that somehow we were delivered from the problem.

I also believe that it is important that we spend some significant time in prayer, especially when we are experiencing times of darkness. In prayer, we should take our cares to God and leave them with Him. When we commune with God and tell him what is bothering us, we must believe that He has heard us and will take care of the problem for us. If we do that, then we don’t have anymore use for worry because we believe that the problem will be taken care of by God. I’d rather have God solve my problem then me solve it on my own. God is infinitely more powerful than I am.

Psalm 18:28 makes it clear that God does not desire for us to be in a continual state of worry or anxiety. His Word says that He will keep our lamp burning. He will revive our spirit, comfort our sorrow, and light a spark that will restore our joy. We would do well to stand on this Word of God and overthrow the attacks of the enemy.

By increasing our communication with God through prayer and by focusing our minds on the Word of God, we can tap into the power that will enable us to step out of the darkness and receive the joy and peace that God desires us to experience.

Revelation 21:6 NIV
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.

Scripture tells us that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Through prayer, our desires are born. God wants to fulfill every step, every goal, every accomplishment that He sets in our heart. In this way, all of our good works start with God. If this is the case, then we should have peace in knowing that what God begins He can and will certainly finish.

When we follow what God places in our heart, we can be sure of a good conclusion. Although it may seem as though the seed that He plants in our heart is not much, we don‘t know what the full maturity of that seed may be. That seed may grow to become a blessing that not only fills our basket but also overflows to fill the baskets of others. If we are obedient to the Word of God and follow through with the desires and plans that He places within our spirit, we can have great expectation that what begins as a small seed may become an abundance of blessings. We would do well to remember that big things are born of small things. A chicken is first an egg. A tree springs forth from just one seed. A great and mighty king begins his life as a helpless baby. Taking that first step of faith is how big dreams come to pass.

Don’t let fear of change, fear of others opinions, or even the fear of success stop you from beginning a good work. The result is not in our hands. The result belongs to God.

Along the way, we may get tired, overwhelmed, anxious or afraid. However, we can find refreshment in God’s water well. He will refresh us when we are thirsty so that we can continue with His plans. When the path gets rough and the journey gets long, remember that God is both the initiator and the completer. He will bring His desires for us to a good conclusion.

Pray over the things you believe God has placed in your heart. Turn those ideas over to Him and await His instructions. If the Holy Spirit directs you to start, go ahead and take the first step in faith. Remember that God is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.